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Hardware UX: Designing Connected, Responsive, and Interactive Experiences

Description

Hardware UX is a studio-based course that explores the design, development of connected and responsive hardware and software-based systems supporting human-computer interaction, multi-modal and interactive experiences, and expressive devices. With an interest in developing products incorporating hardware and software that blend digital and physical, students will work with low-cost and powerful micro-controllers and single-board computers such as Arduino and Raspberry Pi in combination with input/output devices such as sensors and actuators to realize new modes of interaction, connectivity, and mediation between humans and computing systems. In addition, students will become experienced with the tools of electronics prototyping and production such as PCB design, milling, and assembly. The course will culminate with the development of a hardware-based product and/or experience.

Day / Time / Location

APRD-5019-001
Monday, 1:30 pm - 4:00 pm
CMCI Studio, 1301 Walnut St. Boulder, CO 80302

Instructor

RJ Duran
rj.duran@colorado.edu
Slack: @rjduran on cmcistudio.slack.com
Office hours by appointment. Feel free to reach out to me via slack or email.

Slack

Slack workspace cmcistudio.slack.com is our primary communication tool for the course. Channel #cmstudio and user group @hux will be used for all course communication and notifications. Be sure to check it daily.

Syllabus

This website is a real-time version of the course syllabus. It is updated weekly throughout the semester.

Course Themes

  • Physical Computing
  • Interaction Design
  • Electronics Prototyping
  • Input/Output Devices
  • Scripting / Programming
  • Digital Fabrication

Workload

  • This course is 3 credit hours. You should expect to dedicate at least 2-3 hours per credit hour. This translates into a 6-9 hours per week. Consider 6 hours a minimum expectation for one studio course and plan accordingly with your other studio courses.
  • Assignments for the course consist of weekly blog posts demonstrating project-based and process oriented research and explorations in making. Assignment parameters will be based on the topic of the week and "due" the following week by the start of class time.
  • The course is organized into weekly meetings consisting of instructor led project-driven topics organized as workshops and studio work sessions. It is expected that all students are active participants in each session.

Deliverables

This course is a project based course and largely driven by student research and interests. As such, each deliverable is expected to vary based on the project parameters and requirements. The following outlines the general criteria for course deliverables throughout the semester.

Assignments

  • Assignments are given weekly and need to be submitted as a blog post published to your Critical Making blog. A minimum of 1 blog post per week is the expectation.
  • Medium has been widely used by students in the past but you are free to use anything you like.
  • Posts are to be submitted via slack #cmstudio by the specified due date each week.
  • It is recommended that a post includes a variety of media and content to support the subject matter. For example: text, images, video, graphics, photos, mockups, screen captures, tutorials, 3d model viewers (sketchfab), sketches, code, gifs, references, etc. Anything that is required to effectively communicate the details of a project, process, prototype, or idea.
  • The subject matter is in response to the topics of the week. Ideally, it falls in line with your interests, research area, project, creative process, etc. For example, you might consider doing a series of tutorials on a topic that interests you or a process/workflow you are currently exploring through the course.
  • Posts should be written to the best of your abilities and for a public audience. The post and any accompanying visual content (images, video) may be shared on social media.

Final Project

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